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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Thanksgiving is here! Where did this year go and how is there nearly a month left until Christmas? If you are like me and love decorating for Christmas early, you know all too well the struggle of having one part of your hold decked out in all things Christmas while you table is being prepared for that Thanksgiving turkey. While I am a Christmas fanatic, we cannot just skip over one of the best holidays of the year... This year I wanted to create a simple tablescape playing off of copper and burgundy tones.There is something about that combination that is always so classy and elegant.

The copper bowl I found on clearance from Home Goods a few weeks back. They had a few higher priced real copper pieces in store recently, sadly, all of which are out of my teeny budget. So this $12 clearance find is to be praised! To create the faux floral centerpiece, I used desert dry foam blocks on the inside of the bowl, then placed the evergreen cedar faux greenery stems that I purchased from Hobby Lobby all around the edges and used the smaller pieces as filler in the center.

I really wanted the arrangement to be an eye catcher since it is the only feature on the table. I have seen beautiful tables set up with garland and candles down the center, and while they look amazing, I find them impractical when it actually comes time for your Thanksgiving feast. This arrangement keeps the table clear for side dishes and desserts!

The faux pomegranates, cotton picks, faux green eucalyptus, seeded brown filler and burgundy dried eucalyptus used in the arrangement are also from Hobby Lobby. I then placed the entire arrangement onto a small marble topped cake stand from Home Goods.

So, let me ask you, what is your least favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner? Well, for me, it's the dishes. Those dreaded dishes. And I do everything that I can to cut down on the work that comes along with hosting, so when I found these plastic copper silverware sets from Target, I snatched them in a second. Can I get an Amen for less dishes to wash!?

I paired the silverware with my Classic White dish set from Pottery Barn. It has always been the perfect set to go with any holiday and tablescape that I have created.

For a 2 min. table setting, try using metallic card stock as place cards and napkins tied up with a simple cinnamon stick and greenery! Your Thanksgiving (or any holiday) table doesn't have to be expensive nor time consuming to be beautiful. All it takes is a little creativity!

Sunday, November 12, 2017

My floral PUMPKIN CENTERPIECE TUTORIAL was such a big hit that I began receiving requests to teach hands on, how to make them. Teaching classes was never even an idea that crossed my mind. While I can easily write up a storm, would it surprise you if I said that talking to a room full of people simply terrifies me? But... I have been trying to challenge myself over the past few months to step outside of my comfort zone, so once I began getting so much encouragement I was excited to jump in and go for it!

My biggest challenge after deciding to offer a workshop, was where to host it? I have a wonderful friend whom is a local maternity/newborn/child photographer and creates her gorgeous work in her beautiful photography studio. Her entire studio is an old historic home here in the golden isles of coastal Georgia. When I brought the idea of a workshop to her, she was instantly on board and graciously offered her studio and wanted to join in on the workshop! I was ecstatic, as her style and mine blend perfectly and provided the perfect backdrop for my vision.

When planning out my workshop, I wanted my style and "signature" to touch every aspect of it, making the workshop an extension of my home and myself. I am a sucker for details, and when displaying the materials on the workshop table, I really wanted to pay attention to detail, even down to the tape on the packaging.

We opted to keep the class size small and intimate to really provide a fun night of crafting, laughing and snacking with "friends". The result was exactly as I had envisioned and was so much fun! Teaching my first workshop was a pleasant surprise and came natural to me, which was completely un-expected! The turn out was so great that I have now decided to offer more and a few Christmas workshops are already in the works so stay tuned to my blog and Instagram for announcements!

Thursday, November 9, 2017

The holiday season is fast approaching and while some may not want to see the sight of anything Christmas until their Thanksgiving turkey is cleared off of their table, I will apologize in advance, because this is just the first Christmas project of many to come in the weeks ahead!

I was fortunate enough to collaborate with the lovely ladies of THE HOMESTEAD HAVEN for this post. Amanda & Renee create these adorable SHIPLAP MINI SIGNS, and when it arrived on my doorstep I couldn't wait to get to work on a little wreath to adorn it with.

I am a sucker for some cute packaging, and loved how they packaged

their product with attention to detail and their logo attached.

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

- 1 mini embroidery hoop

- linen ribbon

- Christmas greenery

- floral wire

- hot glue gun

- hot glue sticks

- twine

- sicssors

- wire cutters

- letter stamps

- stamp ink pad

1. Start by laying out all of your supplies.

2. With most faux greenery garland that you get, you can pluck the greenery right off of the plastic stem. This saves you from having to cut or waste. Remove approximately three to five pieces of greenery off of the stem for your wreath.

3. Once your greenery is ready, cut approximately five to six inches of wire.

4. Place your greenery on the embroidery hoop where you desire it and then begin wrapping the floral wire around the greenery and the embroidery hoop beginning at the base of your greenery and working upwards.

5. Wrap the floral wire about 2/3rds of the way up your greenery piece, leaving the top portion to flow naturally.

6. Take your smaller pieces of greenery and hot glue them on the opposite side of the hoop as well as on top of where the floral wire is showing.

7. Cut your ribbon two to three inches longer than each side of your hoop. This will give you enough allowance to center the wording on the ribbon properly inside of the hoop once you are completed stamping.

8. Pick out the letters that you desire for the word(s) that you would like to spell out and hand stamp them onto your ribbon.

9. Lastly, place your ribbon inside of the embroidery hoop

and pull tightly on the ribbon as you are closing up the hoop.

(TIP: I actually recommend adding the ribbon into the hoop as your FIRST step. I chose to not show the ribbon added in my first posts so that you could see the step by step details clearly.)

10. Add twine and tie around the hanger placed on the back of the SHIPLAP SIGN.

That's it! A super simple project while the kiddos are napping or at night while watching your favorite show with a glass of hot chocolate (or wine)...

I just love this little shiplap sign so much and love how versatile it is year round! Keep a look out for more seasonal mini wreath tutorials that I plan to make, which means, YOU NEED ONE OF THESE SIGNS to put them on! And just for all of you loyal followers, the ladies at THE HOMESTEAD HAVEN are offering you a 15% Discount on THIS SHIPLAP MINI SIGN ONLY. Using the code SIMPLYCIANI15 at checkout.